Claimant v Bathgate Family Law Practice Ltd — 2023

The claimant presented a tribunal claim on 3 March 2023 complaining that she had been unlawfully deprived of notice pay and a redundancy payment. No ET3 was received and the respondent did not attend the hearing on 23 May 2023. The claimant gave brief evidence, and the tribunal proceeded on an undefended basis.

The tribunal found that the claimant had started work on 1 December 2010 as an assistant to Michael Burns, carrying out secretarial, reception and paralegal tasks. On 23 January 2023 Mr Burns told her that he could no longer run the business and could not afford to pay creditors, including the claimant, and that he would pay her until 31 January 2023. She returned on 26 January 2023 to collect her belongings and return keys. The tribunal found that the respondent paid salary to 31 January 2023, made no redundancy payment, and later made a further payment of £500 at the start of March 2023 without explanation.

The tribunal held that the claimant had been made redundant and was entitled to a redundancy payment. Applying section 162 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, it found that she was 40 years old at termination and had 12 completed years' service, producing a redundancy payment of £4,500 based on 12 x 1 x £375.

On notice pay, the tribunal found there was no evidence of any contractual notice period. It therefore applied the statutory notice period under section 86(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, found the claimant was entitled to 12 weeks' pay of £4,500 gross, and reduced that figure by £500 to reflect the payment already made. The resulting notice award was £4,000 gross, subject to deduction of tax and national insurance, and the total ordered to be paid was £8,500.